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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28586184">The Other Shoe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearlcaddy/pseuds/pearlcaddy'>pearlcaddy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Julie the Vampire Slayer [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fusion, Bad Parenting, Established Relationship, F/M, Found Family, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Julie Molina, mild fight scenes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:01:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,647</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28586184</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearlcaddy/pseuds/pearlcaddy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Julie thinks that the hardest thing about this week is going to be meeting her boyfriend’s parents. But when a demon attack leaves Luke in critical condition, she’s reminded that life on the Hellmouth is never that simple.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Flynn &amp; Julie Molina, Julie Molina &amp; Mitch Patterson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Julie the Vampire Slayer [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977202</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>118</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>238</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Other Shoe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/nottheleastbrave/gifts">nottheleastbrave</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Anonymous+%28Gaby%2FNini%29">Anonymous (Gaby/Nini)</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>nottheleastbrave requested Julie meeting the Pattersons, and also the thing Flynn shares in the car. Gaby/Nini requested Luke getting hurt and Julie going into overprotective mode, and all those ideas congealed into… whatever this is.</p><p>This probably won’t make much sense if you haven’t read <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27029152/chapters/65986420">Some Killer Queen You Are</a>, so you should read that first! Julie slays some vampires and Luke pines and there's lots of banter—it's all good apocalyptic fun.</p><p>For those following at home, this is about a month and a half after Jukebox <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27177530">tell Ray they’re dating.</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <b>February 2020</b>
  </p>
</div>Julie knew that the Watchers’ Council wouldn’t just accept being replaced.<p>She knew they would fight back.</p><p>She knew they wouldn’t be fair.</p><p>But she hadn’t expected them to fight this dirty.</p><p>“Mitch and Emily Patterson?” From his spot on the living room couch, Reggie reads the paper announcement of the Watchers’ visit (which, seriously, who sends paper announcements to things anymore?) and eyes Luke. “Any relation?” The entire Scooby gang stares incredulously at the vampire. “Patterson is a common last name!”</p><p>“What are your parents even like?” Willie asks, staring at Luke like he’ll be able to picture the Pattersons if he just looks at the ghost for long enough.</p><p>“They’re, uh… people?”</p><p>Flynn snorts. “I am forever amazed that you’re a good songwriter.”</p><p>“There’s not much to say about them. They like bureaucracy and old books and tradition and Yorkshire Tea and not a lot else.” Luke’s face flinches for a second before he tamps down… whatever that reaction was.</p><p>Julie ducks under her boyfriend’s arm, cuddling up to him on the loveseat. “Are you gonna be okay?”</p><p>He nods slowly, as if the movement of his head will help his feelings fall into place. “This could be good, actually. My parents have a ton of guilt about me being a Watcher. Maybe we can shame them into just giving in.” She studies his face, searching for cracks in his mask. Right now, he seems… sad but not upset, and she doesn’t really know what to make of that.</p><p>His forehead suddenly smooths, like he’s casting off the idea of caring, and he boops her forehead with his nose. “What about you?”</p><p>“What about me?”</p><p>“You’ve never met my parents.” It’s not that she hasn’t noticed. It’s just that he talks about his parents so rarely that she never thought of meeting them as a hurdle she needed to clear. It couldn’t be more opposite from her situation—it was important to her that her parents meet her boyfriend, but her dad knew Luke before she was even born, so she never got to worry about them meeting.</p><p>She has no idea whether her meeting Luke’s parents actually matters or if it’s just a thing that’s going to happen, but the part of her that doesn’t like disappointing authority figures (aka adults who are older than her and Flynn) doesn’t know how to not want them to like her.</p><p>“Should I be worried?” she asks.</p><p>“Probably not.” His mouth twitches slightly as he struggles to keep a straight face.</p><p>“Are you messing with me?”</p><p>His mock blank expression cracks into a mischievous grin. “I deserve some fun. Do you know how many awkward conversations I’ve had with your father?”</p><p>“You’re the one who keeps bringing up the fact that you met me when I was a baby. I really don’t think he would even have remembered.”</p><p>Grinning ruefully, he twines his fingers with hers. “You know me. Always gotta be my own worst enemy.” Pulling their hands to his mouth, he places a kiss to her knuckles and offers her a soft smile. After two months together, she should probably be used to the casual affection, but they pined for so long that her heart still skips at every little romantic gesture. And if she’s honest, there’s a nervousness to the skip. Part of her feels like they’re getting away with something and someone’s going to show up and tell them that they don’t get this. After all the sadness and loss, surely they don’t just get to keep this amazing, happy thing? The other shoe has to drop eventually. What if his parents are the thing that ruins this?</p><p>So later that day, she searches through her closet with a tad more aggression than is necessary. “I need an outfit that says ‘You should like me because I’m an awesome girlfriend for your son,’ and also ‘I hate you for forcing your son into a destiny that resulted in his death.’”</p><p>From his prone position on her bed, Alex shakes his head. “That’s not—okay.”</p><p>Flynn cuts to the chase. “Jules, clothes can’t say that.”</p><p>Clothes <i>have</i> to say that, because Julie’s sure as hell not using her words. She can’t get a clear read on what Luke wants from her meeting his parents, so she’s aiming to have them approve of her but feel the deep shame of her subtle disdain. “Flynnnn, help me.”</p><p>“Why am I here?” Alex asks.</p><p>“Because sometimes Flynn goes overboard when it comes to fashion, and you’ve worn the same shirt every day since high school. You’ll balance each other out.”</p><p>Flynn huffs. “Jules, I’m supposed to be finalizing our proposal for the New Council. It needs to be perfect is there’s any chance the Pattersons are going to go for it.”</p><p>“But consider: pretty colors?” The Slayer runs an enticing hand over the clothes in her closet. Flynn has devoted the last two months to developing a plan to restructure the Council, staying up late almost every night as she struggles to create a logical system out of the bullshit that has been the Council’s operating procedures for the past several thousand years. Luke has helped by providing lists of the Council’s archives and the training they provide to Watchers and Slayers. But, without anyone needing to discuss it, Flynn’s at the helm. They’re not having the Council run by a bunch of old white dudes any longer.</p><p>Also, it’s Flynn. If you need a member of the Scooby gang to competently run an institution, it’s gonna be Flynn. That’s not even a discussion. Everyone else—and Julie very much includes herself in this—is a supernatural disaster.</p><p>After two months immersed in the gross, demeaning underbelly of the Council, the lure of clothes is too great. “Fiiine,” Flynn groans. With a giant grin on her face.</p><p>“Thank you.” Julie plops down on the bed next to Alex.</p><p>She doesn’t realize she’s sighed aloud until Alex flicks his finger and floats a scarf to wrap around her head. Batting it away, she squeals, “What the hell?”</p><p> “You’re worrying too much. <i>I’m</i> telling you this, so be scared.”</p><p>She tries to find a way to articulate all the dread in her gut. The sheer conviction that the other shoe is about to drop and separate her from Luke. “What if his parents hate me?”</p><p>“It won’t matter,” Alex insists.</p><p>“How could that not matter?”</p><p>“How they feel about you is going to reflect on them, not you.”</p><p>Julie bites her lip. Technically, she understands that. But she has a hard time believing that Luke is genuinely apathetic about his parents’ potential opinion of her. It’s <i>Luke</i>—when has he ever been apathetic about anything? “Do you honestly believe he doesn’t care about us meeting?” she asks.</p><p>Alex sighs. “I don’t know. I don’t know if he knows. The thing about having a messed up relationship with your parents is that sometimes you don’t know how you feel about stuff until it’s actually happening. You think you care about something and it turns out you don’t. Or, you think you don’t care about something and then, surprise! You do.”</p><p>“So he might care? So I should try to make them like me?”</p><p>The warlock sits up and rests a hand on her shoulder, like he can make her calm down just by pressing the worry out of her. “Just support Luke and be yourself, and whatever happens happens. Don’t stress out about it.”</p><p>Flynn snorts. “Love hearing <i>you</i> telling other people not to stress out.”</p><p>Alex tries to look outraged, but he can’t stop himself from laughing. “I only give advice I have no intention on taking. That’s why I’m giving it away, because I have no use for it.”</p><p>“I don’t know that this is helping,” Julie tries to point out.</p><p>“You came to the wrong people,” Flynn laughs. “I like my parents, and Willie’s parents have been dead for over a millennium, so Alex never had to meet them.”</p><p>“And I love my husband, so I’ve never introduced him to my parents. It’s how I show him that I care.” Alex and Flynn exchange a dark grin.</p><p>Julie sighs. “I just… I want them to know how good his life is and feel horrible that they don’t get to be part of that.”</p><p>He raises an eyebrow. “That’s, uh, vindictive.”</p><p>“You saw his gravestone.”</p><p>The warlock sighs and nods, but Julie hears Flynn suck her teeth. There’s a disapproving look on her friend’s face, but she doesn’t say anything as she holds up a maroon sweater and Julie’s favorite plaid combat pants. “Romantic combat chic.”</p><p>Julie looks to Alex, who shrugs. “They are clothes. They are not weird.”</p><p>Flynn hangs the clothes back up on the side of Julie’s closet. “Okay, now that we’re chosen your outfit <i>seven days in advance</i>, can we get back to pissing off Quentin Travers?”</p>
<hr/><p>The Scoobies spend most of the next week giving feedback on various details of Flynn’s plan and rushing around doing research for her as needed. None of that stuff is Julie’s forte, so she’s all too happy to escape from Luke and Reggie’s apartment to patrol. But, as always, demons are not there to make her life easier.</p><p>The night before the Pattersons arrive, she and Luke end up in a surprisingly difficult battle against two mouth-less demons who seem to be able to anticipate Luke and Julie’s every move. Even though Julie’s in the best shape of her life, her demon is blocking every punch and kick and landing heavy ones when she least expects it, and she ends up being flung bodily to the ground, all the air whooshing out of her chest.</p><p>By the time she catches her breath and flips back up onto her feet, her demon has fled and the other lies dead at Luke’s feet. Her boyfriend wipes at the silver demon blood soaked all over his bare arm, face wriggling in disgust.</p><p>“Where did mine go?” she asks.</p><p>“I didn’t see—I was busy getting a shower.”</p><p>“This is why some of us wear sleeves to battle.”</p><p>He holds up his clean arm and flexes the bicep. “And hide these demon-slayers?”</p><p>“… did you really just call your biceps demon-slayers?”</p><p>“Hey, you love my arms.”</p><p>She’s saved from having to answer when the blood absorbs into his arm. “Um,” he hums nervously as they exchange a glance. “I’m guessing that’s probably a bad thing?”</p>
<hr/><p>“Yeah, you’re gonna get an ‘aspect of the demon,’” Flynn answers without looking up from the documents spread all over Luke and Reggie’s dining room table.</p><p>“The fact that you know this off the top of your head makes me feel like you’ll be a better Watcher than me,” Luke replies absently as he scratches his arm. Over the past twelve hours, his skin has gotten progressively itchier and his fingernails have left dozens of red scratches. Julie’s trying not to worry, but she’s very bad at not worrying when it comes to Luke.</p><p>Flynn doesn’t bother to hide her proud smile. “Some people like to watch horror movies. I like to read about actual demons that may attack us at any moment. It’s like true crime, only we’re all going to be the victims.”</p><p>“No offense, but that’s a pretty shit hobby.” Luke scratches harder, so Julie grabs his hands to stop him, weaving his fingers firmly between her own.</p><p>Flynn doesn’t miss a beat. “Your hobby is <i>exercising</i>, so you’re not in a position to judge.”</p><p>“… wait, aspect of the demon? What aspect?”</p><p>It’s been at least an hour since Julie’s made a joke about his shirts, so she has to step in. “Maybe sleeves?”</p><p>He sticks his tongue out at her. “The demon was naked. … actually, most demons are naked. Is it weird that our couple activity is fighting naked demons?”</p><p>“It wasn’t until you phrased it like that.”</p><p>A playful grin lights up his face, and there’s something so innocent and boyish about it that it lifts her heart for a moment, like a raft raised by an ocean wave. Ever since they started dating, he has these moments—boisterous, silly, happy little moments—that make her feel like she’s peering behind the curtain to see what he was like before he became a ghost.</p><p>His eyes crinkle up warmly and he tucks a curl behind her ear. “What can I say? You make me feel alive.”</p><p>“Fighting naked demons makes you feel alive?”</p><p>“No, you said my smile is like peering behind a curtain…” He trails off as she shakes her head, but before she can voice her confusion, Luke’s head spins to Flynn. “<i>Telepath</i> demons? That’s why they kicked our asses so hard.”</p><p>Both Julie and Flynn freeze. Luke looks between them, but before he can speak, Julie figures it out. “So your ‘aspect of the demon’ is telepathy.” </p><p>… only Luke says the words at the exact same time.</p><p>Julie feels very disconcerted, but her boyfriend’s grin grows. “This is wicked cool.” Then his forehead crinkles and he looks back to Flynn. “Well, you don’t gotta be so negative about it.”</p><p>It’s like being in the same room as someone who’s on the phone. The strange irritation that comes with trying to fill in the gaps of the missing conversation even if you haven’t been invited to listen.</p><p>Alex, Willie, and Reggie are watching TV and not paying any attention to what’s going on in the dining room, so Luke shouts towards them without preamble, “Alex, how would you describe me?”</p><p>The warlock eyes him skeptically. “You’re alright.”</p><p>But Luke smirks. “You think I’m hot?”</p><p>Alex’s face turns red and he splutters, “What?”</p><p>“He gained telepathic powers from a demon,” Flynn groans.</p><p>A mischievous grin slinks onto Willie’s face as he nudges his husband. “Ooh, how did you describe Luke?”</p><p>“Hot disaster,” the ghost answers proudly.</p><p>Alex shakes his head. “Think you may be focusing on the wrong part of that description.” But Luke keeps smirking, so Alex folds his arms and lifts his chin defiantly, voice turning prim. “It’s only because of the time we got stranded in the alternate universe where everything was shrimp. After two weeks of nothing but shrimp, yes, you looked hot by comparison. Congratulations.”</p><p>Luke waggles his eyebrows. “Nah, you thought I was hot before that.”</p><p>“You—get out of my head!”</p><p>The ghost’s gaze slides to Reggie, but the gloating smile slips off of his face. “Huh, I can’t read your mind.”</p><p>“Vampire privilege, I guess.” Luke scrunches up his forehead, like he’s trying really hard to push through whatever mental defenses Reggie has. The vampire chuckles and tosses his gaze at the ceiling for a moment. “Don’t worry, dude, I think you’re hot. We all think you’re hot.”</p><p>“I don’t,” Flynn pipes up.</p><p>Luke points at her, delighted by his ability to know for sure. “That’s true!”</p><p>“But I do,” Willie admits.</p><p>“Also true!”</p><p>The thought <i>How do we get rid of the telepathy?</i> has barely formed in Julie’s mind before Luke turns to her. “Why do we need to? This is so rad.”</p><p>Her body flinches back, recoiling from him. Even if it’s Luke, who she trusts with 95% of her thoughts, it’s like someone reading her diary without her permission—</p><p>“Fuck, I didn’t mean it like that.” He reaches for her apologetically.</p><p>Julie shoves his hands away. “Stop. This... This can’t happen. It’s creepy.”</p><p>The smirk drops from his face and his voice softens with genuine remorse. “I’m sorry, Jules. I can’t help it. I-I just hear the thoughts of everyone near me. I can’t shut them out.”</p><p>“How do we fix it?” Julie asks Flynn.</p><p>Her best friend points to one of the leather tomes on the bookshelf. Luke flips through it, targeting the right page with an ease that suggests he’s reading Flynn’s mind for instructions. “Uh, kill the demon, make a potion from their heart. But the potion recipe isn’t here.”</p><p>“I can try to find it while you go pick up your parents?” Flynn offers, but Luke’s already shaking his head.</p><p>“The New Council is the priority. We’ll deal with this,” he waves at his head, “after their visit.” But he slightly undercuts his laidback attitude by rubbing his forehead. <i>You okay?</i> is on the tip of Julie’s tongue. “I’m fine, there’s just a lot of people thinking at once in this room.” It’s not until the words are out that he bites his lip, clearly remorseful at not having waited for her to speak aloud.</p><p>“The second our meeting today is over, I’m going right back out there and tracking down that demon,” she insists.</p><p>Flynn clears her throat, drawing Julie’s attention. “Be careful. They can read your mind. It’s not a fair fight.”</p><p>“I can handle it.”</p><p>Her friend doesn’t look convinced, but Julie doesn’t get a chance to question it because Luke suddenly stiffens and his eyes shoot to Flynn. She meets his gaze, and there’s a long pause. A nonverbal conversation Julie’s not a part of. “You think about that a lot?” he asks gently. Flynn nods, tense. “I’m so sorry.”</p><p>“Not your fault.” But her voice is smaller and quieter than Julie’s ever heard it sound.</p><p>The whole room looks between the two of them, trying to figure out what they’re missing. Luke and Flynn have always had a work-friends type of bond, usually expressed through ribbing each other or sitting in semi-comfortable silence. They get along and care about each other, but if the Slayer stuff all went away, they would probably be fine without seeing each other too often.</p><p>But this moment is weirdly gentle, the two of them completely on the same page and it’s… unnerving.</p><p>Luke tears his gaze from Flynn’s. “Let’s go get my parents,” he tells Julie, voice strangely soft.</p>
<hr/><p>Her boyfriend is surprisingly quiet on the drive to Los Angeles International Airport, but Julie’s not sure whether it’s nerves about his parents or whatever he heard Flynn thinking about. The closer they get to the airport, the more the traffic on the 405 clogs around them, and the more he rubs his head, groaning softly.</p><p>“You okay?” she asks.</p><p>“Just a lot of people thinking.” She hesitates, and he glances over. “There’s too many voices going at once for me to pick one out, so if you wanna talk, you’re gonna have to say it out loud.”</p><p>“What was Flynn thinking about?”</p><p>“That’s private.” For her boyfriend, king of What Is A Boundary And Why Would I Respect It, to draw a line like that so firmly and quickly, she knows it’s serious. Which she should interpret as a sign to stay far away, but the curiosity burns even more fiercely inside her. She tucks it away to dwell on later.</p><p>“How are you feeling?”</p><p>“Honestly? I dunno if I’m just distracted cause my head feels like it’s gonna split open, but I think I genuinely don’t care about seeing my parents. Like, I think I’m <i>okay</i>.” He pauses for a moment, like he’s marveling at the concept, then he rolls his head over to look at her. “Why are you nervous?”</p><p>“You said you couldn’t hear my mind.”</p><p>“I can’t. I just know my girlfriend.”</p><p>She tries to find a way to articulate her whole “something has to go wrong, what if this is the other shoe” line of linking, but all that comes out is, “I’m just worried about this meeting. I want the Council out of our lives.”</p><p>Without taking her eyes off the road, she can’t read his face, but she can almost feel  him not believing the deflection. “Jules, look—”</p><p>But his words are lost as he hisses in a deep breath and clenches his head, sinking into silence.</p><p>By the time they pull up outside the Tom Bradley International Terminal, Luke has slumped so far in his seat that he’s practically horizontal. His fingers are shoved deep in his ears and his eyes are squeezed shut, even though nothing will block out the sounds being magically projected into his mind. She shakes his shoulder and tries to speak gently. “Sweetheart, I need you to tell me which of these generic white people made you.”</p><p>Luke groans as he pulls himself to sitting and peers out the window, eyes squinted against the harsh midday sun. Scanning the rows of people waiting at the curb, he points to a very uncomfortable couple dressed in suits. The ghost shoots them an awkward two-fingered salute before collapsing his head against the cool glass of the window.</p><p>Julie pulls over, pops open the trunk of the car, and jumps out. It takes Emily and Mitch Patterson a moment to notice her, their eyes lingering on their son like they’re waiting for him to get out and greet them. The Slayer grabs their luggage and chucks it into the car. Given the alarmed looks she gets from other people waiting at the curb, she probably uses a bit too much Slayer strength—a full suitcase doesn’t usually bounce when it lands—but she’s distracted, okay?</p><p>“Hi, I’m Julie.” She sticks out her hand, hoping it’s not sweaty.</p><p>Mitch is the first to take it. “Mitch.” His wife’s focus is on Luke, forehead wrinkled with concern, so he introduces her. “This is Emily.”</p><p>If only there were something more neutral to say than “nice to meet you.” Why isn’t “neutral to meet you” a thing? How do you make a good impression while also telling someone to fuck off? Luckily, Emily steps in before Julie has to figure out words.</p><p>“Is Luke okay?”</p><p>“Just dealing with some side effects from a demon attack.”</p><p>His parents nod awkwardly. Julie is suddenly very grateful for the angry LAX traffic, because a car honks aggressively at them and shatters the long, silent tension between them. The Pattersons clamber into the backseat and Julie slips behind the steering wheel.</p><p>“Hello, Luke,” Emily offers tentatively, in what must be the stiffest, most awkward tone of voice that Julie’s ever heard.</p><p>“‘Sup,” he grunts as he sinks further down in his seat.</p><p>His parents exchange a concerned glance in the rearview mirror and, as much as Julie doesn’t want to deal with a forty-minute drive alone in a car with them, Luke is in actual physical pain, and since he’s not driving, he doesn’t need to be here.</p><p>She places a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you poof back home?”</p><p>Putting his hand over hers, he squeezes her wrist gently. “You sure?” That reaction alone worries her—stubborn Luke would normally insist on staying, no matter how much pain he’s in. For him to immediately take her up on her offer sets off alarm bells.</p><p>“Send Alex and Willie home and go lie down.”</p><p>He sits up enough to kiss Julie’s forehead and shoot the unnecessary two-fingered salute at his parents again before he poofs out. Her stomach churns with worry, but she tries to swallow it. There’s nothing she can do for Luke for the next forty minutes. She glances in the rearview mirror to see his parents staring at her.</p><p>“You can touch??” Emily asks.</p><p>“You and Luke are dating??” Mitch asks at the same time.</p><p>Oh. So Luke left some stuff out of their phone calls.</p><p>Cool cool cool. What a fun drive back this will be.</p>
<hr/><p>By the time Julie and the Pattersons finally reach the apartment, it’s been mostly abandoned with the exception of Flynn. Luke looks much better than he did in the car, but he’s wearing a sweatshirt with the hood up around his head like a shield. And the sweatshirt has sleeves. Julie makes a lot of jokes about his shirts, but if she can’t see her boyfriend’s arms, it’s usually a sign that he’s having a crisis, so she thinks her worry is warranted.</p><p>As Flynn nervously introduces herself to the Pattersons, Julie slips over to Luke, pushing aside the jolt of hurt she feels when he winces at her approach. “How was it?” he asks. But she doesn’t have to say anything before he makes a face. “Fuck, I’m sorry. We haven’t talked since before the scythe. I promise I wasn’t hiding you. I wanna rent billboards around the world to let everyone know that we’re together. I just spaced on telling my parents.”</p><p>“You didn’t tell them about the touching thing last year?”</p><p>“If you know a non-weird way to notify your parents that you can touch a girl, I’m happy to hear it.”</p><p>“At least it gave us something to talk about on the ride over.” She runs a gentle hand down the side of his face, wishing she could pluck the pain from his head. “You sure you’re up for this?”</p><p>“Let me be our secret weapon.” He drops a kiss on her nose and smiles. Mostly genuine, only a little pained. So she tugs him over to his parents. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he leans against her for support. “Mitch, Emily. Long time no see.”</p><p>His mother’s face crumples slightly at the use of her first name. “How are you feeling?”</p><p>“Dead.” Flynn’s mouth wriggles as it tries to hold back a smile, but the Pattersons look stricken. Unconcerned, Luke gestures at the couch. “Should we start?”</p><p>At first, the meeting goes well. Flynn is overprepared, with long, thought out documents to answer even the smallest of the Pattersons’ concerns about the New Council. And Luke pipes up several times with counterarguments to problems they haven’t yet vocalized. Secret weapon indeed.</p><p>Julie tries not to focus too much on the way he massages his temple the whole time. But every time she thinks about it, he squeezes her hand reassuringly, not taking his eyes off of his parents. Emily and Mitch keep eyeing their joined hands, and she can’t get a read on their reaction.</p><p>Despite how prepared the Scoobies are, the Pattersons are unyielding on one point. “You simply don’t have a viable way of funding your New Council’s operations,” Emily sighs, voice pretending sympathy but lathered in condescension. “Most of the donors who keep the Council running are from old Watchers’ families, and they won’t fund an institution that’s reducing their role.”</p><p>Luke snorts. “What, they’d rather have an apocalypse than lose any power?” Flynn raises an eyebrow and her Watcher chuckles darkly at a joke that Julie can’t hear but can guess.</p><p>“This isn’t a joke,” Mitch cuts in. “This is a political reality that you can’t ignore.”</p><p>“After Julie slayed Caleb, we took possession of his estate,” Flynn points out. “I mean, not legally, but we know a guy.”</p><p>Mitch shoots Luke an irritated look. “Your warlock at the Bronze?” As a matter of fact, yes, but the Pattersons can’t read minds, so they’ll never know. “You’re planning to give every single active Slayer a salary. That’s hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Covington’s estate won’t last long.”</p><p>“Are there no philanthropist billionaires who are just genuinely against demons taking over the earth?” Julie asks.</p><p>Mitch opens his mouth, but Emily shakes her head firmly. “Only a couple, and approaching them about this would be a lengthy process. They’ll want to remain anonymous, and they won’t talk to supernatural entities so we’ll need to take the lead.”</p><p>But Luke studies her, a victorious grin curling up the corner of his mouth. “Andi Parker and Trevor Wilson.”</p><p>Emily freezes. “How did you—”</p><p>“Trevor any relation to <i>Carrie</i> Wilson?” he asks. Emily’s mouth falls open, but obviously Luke doesn’t need a verbal answer. “Then I think he’s gonna be personally invested in funding the Slayers’ future. What’s his number?” Plucking it from her mind, he immediately jots it down on the notepad on his lap.</p><p>Turning to Julie, Emily’s voice lashes out as an accusation. “‘Side effect of a demon attack.’ You brought your Watcher to fight a telepath?”</p><p>“Leave her out of this,” Luke all but growls.</p><p>“You have no business being in the field,” she hisses back. “I would have thought you would have learned that lesson by now.”</p><p>For a brief moment, Julie wishes that she and Flynn could communicate telepathically because being in this room is awkward as hell and she wants to scream about how uncomfortable this is with her best friend.</p><p>“I don’t abandon my Slayers. And I don’t regret my choices,” Luke snaps. “Learned that second thing from you.” Emily flinches like she’s been slapped. “And this whole thing you’re doing? Trying to drag out negotiations so you can figure out if you want a relationship with me? It’s pathetic.” Mitch shakes his head and opens his mouth, but Luke doesn’t relent. “Telepathic right now, so you can’t bullshit me.” His eyes click back to his mother’s. “Whatever relationship we had died when I did. And if you’re so <i>upset</i> about my death, you should know that I’m done being used as a pawn in the Council’s war on Slayers.”</p><p>The room rings with furious silence. Julie’s seen a lot of emotions from Luke, but never the sheer volume of angry scorn rolling off of him right now. She’s not sure how much of it is emotions and confessions bottled up for too long, and how much is the headache taking over his body.</p><p>Flynn snaps silently in approval, but the Pattersons look utterly destroyed. Emily clings to the last thing he said. “The Council is the Slayer’s greatest ally.”</p><p>There’s a full-on sneer on Luke’s face at this point and his voice positively drips with disdain. “The Council has been at war with Slayers since day one. Do try to keep up.”</p><p>It’s definitely not the time to act on this, but Julie wants to make out with Luke right now. She’d like that on the record.</p><p>She realizes belatedly that he can hear her, because he turns his head to her with a soft smirk. “Really? For that?” In spite of what’s happening, she can’t stop herself from smiling back. “Now you know how I felt during that first meeting with Travers.”</p><p>For a second, it all feels normal—their usual flirting. But then he turns his head back to his mother. “Yes, we <i>are</i> adorable. Thanks for noticing.” His eyes tick over to his father. “I am. Spoiler alert: you won’t be there.”</p><p>Before Julie can try to figure out what Mitch was thinking, the man sighs heavily. “Luke, we’re trying to help.”</p><p>“Then help.” Her boyfriend is trying to maintain control of the meeting, but his voice is growing fainter, and he’s sinking back into the couch, fingers now massaging both sides of his head.</p><p>“Funding <i>is</i> an issue. You may be able to get to Trevor through his daughter, but Andi isn’t going to just hand you money.”</p><p>“Well, what the fuck do you propose?” By now, Luke is gripping his head, like it’s only staying together because of the sheer strength of his hands. </p><p>Eyeing the ghost with concern, Flynn cuts in. “Luke, you should lie down.”</p><p>He waves his hand and gets to his feet. “I’m fine, I just need…”</p><p>Two things happen almost immediately. Loud squealing noises filter through the open kitchen window. In the time it takes Julie to identify the sound as a bus of schoolchildren pulling up outside, the sudden arrival of extra minds overwhelms Luke and he drops like a stone, falling through the Pattersons. His parents scream, and Julie’s not sure whether it’s because of Luke’s collapse or because of the sensation of expecting someone to fall on you and having them go through you instead.</p><p>But she doesn’t care which.</p><p>“Luke!” Julie screams.</p>
<hr/><p>Luke not sleeping has always been a weird fact to Julie rather than something that she’s concretely aware of. But now, watching him unable to take a break from his mind, she feels his inability to sleep acutely, like she’s sharing his physical pain. Her boyfriend tosses and turns in his bed, groaning loudly in the direction of his head as a flood of loud, unstoppable voices overload his brain. She runs her hand over his forehead, hoping the gentle touch of her cool skin can provide some small comfort.</p><p>Blinking his eyes open, he stares up at her, gaze full of wonder. “What?” she whispers.</p><p>He reaches toward her face. “I can <i>hear</i> how much you love me.”</p><p>“You already know how much I love you.”</p><p>“It’s different, hearing it like that.” Tears slide into the corners of his eyes, and at first she thinks he’s happy, but then he clutches his head and she realizes that they’re tears of pain. Her heart throbs.</p><p>“I talked to Willie. He thinks that the longer you have this ability, the more painful it’s going to get. The human brain isn’t designed to withstand ‘unrestrained telepathy,’ and he says it might be…” She can’t bring herself to say the word “fatal,” but he’ll hear it anyways. They don’t know what will happen to someone who’s already dead, but Willie suspects that Luke’s rapid decline is a sign that the ghost isn’t as immune as they would assume.</p><p>“Huh,” he whispers faintly. “So my brain’s still human.”</p><p>“I’m going to get you that cure, okay?”</p><p>He nods, then winces from the movement. Taking her hand gently, he kisses it, then cups it to his own face, meeting her eyes with an intense, unflinching gaze. “If you can’t get the demon in time—”</p><p>“I will.”</p><p>But he keeps talking like she didn’t say anything. “Julie, I wish I wasn’t dead, but I’ve never regretted dying because it brought me to you. You’re the love of my life, you’re the love of my afterlife, and you’ll be the love of whatever comes after that. In any universe, in any timeline: it’s you. Whatever happens next, you gotta know that.”</p><p>It sounds like goodbye. Fuck that. “Read my mind: I’m getting that demon.”</p><p>The look of wonder passes over his face again, but it’s quickly chased away by agony and his voice comes out hoarse. “Just please be careful.”</p>
<hr/><p>The instant Julie steps into the hallway, her brother is waiting for her. Reggie wraps her in a tight hug and rubs her back soothingly, and it takes everything in Julie not to dissolve into tears.</p><p>“I’ll look after him. Don’t worry,” he whispers.</p><p>She can only nod. After the vampire slips into Luke’s room, she takes a second to get herself together, leaning her head back against the wall to try to ground herself. All this week, she’s worried that the Pattersons were the other shoe. She never even considered that he might get hurt, that he could…</p><p>Part of her is waiting for Luke to tell her what to do. How does she help her Watcher without her Watcher?</p><p>Fuck.</p><p>She marches into the living room. Her gaze flickers briefly to Flynn, who waits by the door with Julie’s bag of weapons, but the Slayer's focus is on the Pattersons. “What book are the instructions for that potion in?”</p><p>Emily rises to her feet, eyes shining with tears. But she shakes her head. “You can’t go after that demon. We can’t risk you getting infected as well. And one heart only makes one cure.”</p><p>“Then he’ll take the cure and he’ll find another telepath demon for me.”</p><p>Mitch jumps to his wife’s side, also shaking his head. “You’re the Slayer. He’s the Watcher. And he’s…”</p><p>For a moment, she wishes she had telepathy. “He’s what.” It’s a threat, not a question, and the Watcher flinches back.</p><p>“He’s already dead,” he whispers. All of a sudden, Julie realizes that she hasn’t truly <i>hated</i> another human being for a long time. She’s battled some of the most evil, depraved demons known to any universe, and they’ve redefined what it means to be worthy of her hatred. </p><p>But she might hate these people.</p><p>“He’s dead, not gone.”</p><p>“That’s a technicality.”</p><p>“Cool, guess I’ve been wasting my life fighting vampires, because they’re dead so I guess they’re not around anymore.”</p><p>Emily hugs herself tightly. “He’s different. He’s… air.”</p><p>“Not to me.” Even when she couldn’t touch him, he was more than air. “And not to the people who really care about him.”</p><p>“I buried my son,” The woman’s voice shakes, furious and broken. “Seventeen years grieving him—you have no idea what it’s like to try to come back from that.”</p><p>“But Luke does. I died, and he doesn’t treat me any differently.”</p><p>“You died for four months. It’s not the same.”</p><p>Julie’s lip curls in disgust. They weren’t here. They don’t know what it was for him. She doubts that they even understand what <i>she</i> means to him. She glances at Flynn, needing someone to share in her rage, but her friend isn’t meeting her eyes. “You’d have to ask Luke. And the only way you’ll be doing that is if I get that demon heart, so…”</p><p>She starts for the door, but Mitch’s voice snaps like a command. “Julie, stop.”</p><p>Is this what it would have been like? If she’d had a normal Watcher? She spins back around. “I work <i>with</i> Luke. I don’t work for the Council. So you can either help me, or you can get the fuck out of my face. Those are your choices.”</p><p>“It’s too dangerous,” he insists.</p><p>“I know my son takes his duty to you very seriously,” Emily tries. “He wouldn’t want you in danger—”</p><p>Julie snorts. As if he would question her abilities or try to stop her from something she set her mind to. “Luke knows that I’m the damn Slayer. And that it’s one demon.”</p><p>“A <i>telepathic</i> demon.”</p><p>“<i>A</i> demon. Now, if you’re done wasting my time, I’m going to save the love of my life. And if you don’t have that book by the time I get back, we’re gonna have a problem.”</p><p>If someone had told Julie a few hours ago that she’d be threatening her boyfriend’s parents today, she would have laughed in their face. But now? With Luke possibly dying in the other room? She’ll do whatever she has to to protect her family.</p>
<hr/><p>Flynn and Julie wait in Julie’s parked car in relative silence, the tap of Flynn’s fingers against the steering wheel the only sound in the small space. Julie tries not to watch her phone too aggressively (a watched phone never gets a text, right?), but she’s desperately waiting for the exact second that Alex finishes casting his locator spell and tells them where the demon is. Trying to distract herself, she leans her head against the headrest. “They’re awful. How the hell can they be that callous about their own son?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Flynn agrees, but without as much feeling as Julie expects.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Her best friend drums the steering wheel faster, like she’s charging up before she speaks in a rush. “Look, obviously they were awful parents, and they’re absolute assholes as Watchers. Though I guess that’s redundant—98% of Watchers are assholes.”</p><p>Julie pulls her back on track. “But?”</p><p>Flynn huffs out a breath. “I love you, but you have no idea what it’s like.”</p><p>“What what’s like?”</p><p>When Flynn’s eyes finally slide to meet Julie's, the Slayer is surprised to find that they’re shining with unspilled tears. “Having your worst nightmare come true and spending all this time trying to come to terms with it, and then having it reversed on you. Someone coming back to life should feel like a miracle, and it <i>is</i>, but it also fucks you up. It doesn’t… some days it doesn’t feel <i>real</i>. I wake up and I think you’re still dead and…” Her voice chokes. “And I can hug you. I can’t imagine what it would be like to go seventeen years knowing you were dead and then not even be able to hold you to convince myself that you’re actually here.”</p><p>Maybe being the Slayer has warped Julie into a binary mindset of good or evil, but she dislikes having to think that people can simultaneously be awful human beings and have valid emotional reactions. “They’re horrible parents,” she maintains.</p><p>“Obviously. I’m not saying they’re good people. But, Jules, I don’t envy them. Maybe for them, the only way they can cope is by pretending he’s not really here. That way, if something happens to him, they never had him back to begin with.” Flynn turns her head away, but Julie catches the look on her face. The same look she had earlier when Luke read her mind.</p><p>“What did Luke hear earlier?” The question is out before Julie can take it back.</p><p>Flynn doesn’t need a clarification. Her gaze drifts to her hands, and she squeezes the steering wheel. “Do you know how we found out that you were dead? The rest of the Scoobies?”</p><p>It’s one of those practical details about her death that Julie has never thought about. She shakes her head.</p><p>“There was this big flash and the air… I don’t know if you remember, but the air was all weird and prickly while the battery was active, and that stopped all of a sudden. So we knew the battery had been turned off. And there was this <i>sound</i>. I don’t even know how to describe it.” Flynn falls silent and Julie knows her friend is hearing it again. “Like, this piercing, broken, inhuman wail. And at first we thought it was the sound of the battery shutting down, but then it kept going and I realized it was a human voice. And then I realized it was Luke’s voice. And I knew there was only one thing that would make that boy scream like that.” She finally meets Julie’s gaze. “I’m never going to forget that sound, and I remember it every single time I worry about you because I don’t know how I’m going to go through all that a second time.”</p><p>There it is again. The reminder that Julie’s death is something she’ll never fully understand, because she wasn’t there. That her being back doesn’t fix the gaping wounds it created.</p><p>Flynn shakes her head, like she has to physically shake off that memory. “Look, I’m not on the Patterson defense squad. I’m just saying, this whole people-coming-back-from-the-dead thing? There’s not a therapist in the world who can help you through that. Because you’re gonna spend the rest of your life waiting for the other shoe to drop and for them to die again. So be mad at them because they’re awful parents and because they’re Watchers and they’re condescending assholes. But I don’t think you can be mad at them for not knowing how to deal with their son coming back. They can’t handle being part of his afterlife? More Luke for us.”</p><p>The storm of new information floods Julie’s brain, but before she can sort through her thoughts, her phone beeps with a text from Alex.</p><p>“You ready to do this thing?” Flynn asks.</p><p>“Bring me to the fucker who hurt my boyfriend.”</p>
<hr/><p>As Julie expected, killing the telepath demon is challenging but far from impossible because she’s extremely angry. The more difficult part is Flynn constantly yelling “Don’t get any of his blood on you!” because it’s a <i>little</i> distracting. As is Flynn insisting that Julie wear kitchen gloves to shield her hands from any blood. Turns out, it’s hard to keep a good grip on a knife through rubber gloves.</p><p>But Julie’s a Slayer in her prime, and this fight is personal and that demon goes down.</p><p>The potion is the harder part because the recipe turns out to be written in… Insert Name of Ancient Language Here? Look, Julie is the Slayer, not the Watcher. This isn’t her department. All she knows is that Alex and Willie are standing at the table in the Magic Box struggling to read the recipe.</p><p>“Either it says ‘brew under a full moon in the center of a circle of babies’ <i>or</i> ‘rest the pot on a llama’s back,’” Willie tries to speak with authority. “Given how potion recipes are written, both of those sound plausible.”</p><p>Alex side-eyes his husband. “It’s okay to admit that you don’t know what it says.”</p><p>“Bro, I’ll bet you money it’s one of those two instructions.”</p><p>Emily tentatively approaches the book and peers down at the page. “‘Boil.’”</p><p>As Alex’s face turns soft and exasperated, Willie meets his husband’s gaze sheepishly. “Look, I tried. Thank god she was here.”</p><p>Julie doesn’t want to agree, but the number of times that Emily ends up having to correct Alex and Willie’s translations makes the Slayer reluctantly grateful for the Watcher’s presence. But she keeps herself at a distance, sitting on the counter by the register, and doesn’t notice Mitch standing next to her until he speaks. “You think we’re callous.”</p><p>“You are.” So much for what Flynn said.</p><p>The Watcher sighs. “We were raised by the Council, and the Council doesn’t really encourage… emotionality.” Julie focuses all her energy on holding in a snort, so she doesn’t come up with anything to say. “For you, my son is here and he’s alive and I respect that that’s your view, but for us… it’s difficult.”</p><p>“Maybe if you spent time with him, it would get easier.”</p><p>“Have you ever spent time around someone whose death you were indirectly responsible for?”</p><p>Images spring to mind, ones that she desperately tries to keep buried—vampires knocking her across a cemetery and kidnapping one of the most important people in her life. Murdering him and forever changing him. For a moment, she’s lost in that slice of the past, unable to shove the memories away. “My brother.”</p><p>“Ah, the vampire with a soul.”</p><p>“Reggie,” she corrects, not bothering to shield the scorn in her voice.</p><p>“Reggie,” Mitch concedes.</p><p>“Also Luke.” It comes out unbidden, the first time she’s given voice to that thought that kicks around in her brain on days when she can tell that his ghostly state is causing him more pain than normal. The what ifs start to whisper in her aching heart, and the inextricable link between Julie’s birth and her mother and Luke’s deaths pulls her towards a guilt she knows isn’t rational.</p><p>“His death had nothing to do with you,” Mitch insists quietly.</p><p>“It wasn’t my fault. But it did have something to do with me.”</p><p>“No, it was entirely on the Council.” His face is still, the way Luke’s is sometimes when he’s trying to drown in his pain rather than vocalize it.</p><p>“Did you know they weren’t going to send backup to the hospital?” she asks.</p><p>A shudder runs through him. “Emily and I were cut out of a lot of decision-making when Rose was active. There were concerns that we would be biased and overly cautious.” His voice trails off, and Julie doesn’t need to be telepathic to know that he’s being haunted by his own memories. “But we should have tried harder to know.” His eyes finally slide over to her. “I’m sorry for your loss.”</p><p>She nods. “Sorry for yours.”</p><p>For a long moment, there’s a silence between them that’s filled only with Emily’s exasperated voice feeding instructions to Willie and Alex. Then Mitch asks, so quietly that she almost doesn’t hear, “Is he happy?”</p><p>It’s a complicated question with a complicated answer, but she doesn’t think Mitch is asking about the day-to-day reality of it. He’s not asking about the days when Luke is overwhelmed with grief or when he fails to shake her father’s hand or when she, Reggie, and Willie are gone and he doesn’t feel any physical connection to the world for hours. What comes to mind when Mitch asks the question is the sight of Luke smiling. During group movie nights. During game nights. In the cemetery. In the car. Over a book. Over the table in the Magic Box. While training. While holding her at night. Thousands of smiles—some of them huge, some of them tiny, some of them completely internal—all pulled out of him by the Scoobies on his journey from the hermit ghost to her Luke.</p><p>“He is.”</p><p>A smile turns up Mitch’s mouth, and Julie has to look away for a moment, because that enjoyably vindictive part of her is whispering, <i>He’s happy in spite of you. You don’t deserve to enjoy his happiness.</i></p><p>“If you regret how he died,” she looks Mitch dead in the eye, “you won’t stand in the way of us taking over the Council. Get Andi Parker on board. That’s the bare minimum you owe your son. Because if you can’t get behind us on this, your regret is worth shit.”</p><p>Fed up with the conversation, she slides off the counter and starts to stride away. There’s something very pleasant about not caring what a person thinks.</p><p>Mitch’s voice stops her, colder than it was before. “I never get to hug my son again. So just remember that before you judge—”</p><p>She doesn’t even bother turning around. “I never got to hug my mother. Remember who’s responsible for that?” And she walks away without another look back.</p>
<hr/><p>While Reggie brings the finished potion to Luke, Julie paces in the living room as they wait for the cure to take effect.</p><p>Luke screams several times, and there’s the sound of a struggle for a bit, and Flynn has to step in front of Julie to keep her from going in the bedroom. Flynn wraps her arms around Julie to hold her in place, and it would be so easy to push her friend aside if she wanted to. But right now Julie doesn’t feel like the Slayer. She’s a terrified young woman with the strength of a used napkin who can’t do anything to help the man she loves except burst into tears in her best friend’s arms.</p><p>“What’s with the long face?” a familiar voice asks, and her head shoots up from Flynn’s shoulder. Luke stands in the hallway, leaning against the wall, rubbing the deep circles under his eyes, shaking from the effort of keeping himself upright. But standing nonetheless.</p><p>“You don’t already know?” she checks, tapping her temple. He shakes his head and gives her a weak, relieved smile. “Oh thank god.” She rushes across the room and he stumbles into her, wrapping his arms around her. “I was so worried.”</p><p>“I wasn’t.” She lifts her head but doesn’t move out of his arms. Smiling gently down at her, he cups her cheek. “Knew you would save me.”</p><p>“You gave me a death bed speech.”</p><p>“You and I don’t have the best track record with not dying, so I wanted to cover my bases.” His eyes go soft and warm, lingering on her like she’s the best thing he’s ever seen, and he runs his thumb over her lip. “Plus, any excuse to talk about how much I love you.”</p><p>She kisses his thumb. “Any universe.”</p><p>He grins. “Any timeline.”</p><p>“I love you too.”</p><p>He slides his hand behind her head and pulls her to him for a gentle kiss. Normally they don’t do PDA (although Alex insists that “you two looking at each other from across a room is often PDA, so please limit that shit in front of other people”), but this has been A Day and she’s allowing it.</p><p>She tucks her face into his chest as she hugs him again. A moment later, she feels the thumps of Willie and Reggie throwing their arms around her and Luke, and Flynn and Alex hugging Willie and Reggie, encircling the ghost in the best approximation of a group hug that they can manage. Her boyfriend’s body shakes with laughter under her hands, and she thinks, <i>Yeah, he’s happy.</i></p><p>“Feeling the love, guys.”</p><p>“It’s not personal,” Flynn insists. “Just that you’re the only decent Watcher.” As the rest of the group separates from him, she adds, presumably in the Pattersons’ direction, “Offense intended.”</p><p>Julie can tell the instant Luke’s eyes meet his parents’ because the muscles of his back tense under her fingers. She turns around but stays in the loose circle of his arms, and the rest of the Scooby gang remains grouped around Luke, surrounding the Watcher with support.</p><p>Pulling a nervous smile onto her face, Emily steps forward before seeming to remember that she can’t hug him. “Glad to see you’re better.”</p><p>“My family’s pretty good at taking care of me.” There’s no edge to it—no accusation being levelled at his parents. Just warm appreciation for the Scoobies.</p><p>Mitch glances at Julie, like he’s replaying their conversation. Then he sighs and looks at Luke. “<i>If</i> we can get Andi onboard…”</p><p>“You know you can. I read your mind.”</p><p>His father huffs out a breath. “Who’s leading the New Council?”</p><p>Luke nods his head at Flynn, who raises her hand like she’s never met anyone more oblivious than the Pattersons <i>in her life</i>. “Me.”</p><p>“Then we should probably go through your documents in more detail. Your list of our archives and operations is… incomplete.” The whole room goes silent, because the obvious absurdity of the Watcher of the <i>current Slayer</i> not having full access to the Council's resources is just… one of many reasons they’re bringing this place to its knees. Mitch glances at Luke. “Will you be joining us?”</p><p>“Nah, she’s in charge.”</p><p>Her best friend shoots Luke a grateful nod. “Damn straight.”</p><p>Emily’s eyes slide to Luke. “Will we see you this week before our flight?”</p><p>Julie feels her boyfriend’s shoulder raise in a shrug. “If you have any questions Flynn can’t answer.”</p><p>“Wouldn’t count on that,” Flynn teases.</p><p>“Yeah, me neither.”</p><p>Julie isn’t quite sure how to read the storm of emotions on the Pattersons’ faces: regret? Pain? Sadness? Relief? But it finally seems to settle on acceptance. She can’t see Luke’s face, but she can feel his body relax, like he’s reaching the same conclusion. His hand slips into hers and he squeezes with a sense of finality.</p><p>And that’s the moment it finally clicks.</p><p>Luke isn’t a Patterson anymore. He’s a Scooby.</p><p>And that’s as it should be.</p>
<hr/><p>It takes Luke a couple more hours to start looking more like himself, but Julie finally feels like she can relax when he swaps out his hoodie for a cutoff. He collapses into bed next to her and pulls her in to cuddle him.</p><p>“You good?” he asks.</p><p>“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”</p><p>He smiles to himself, but shakes his head. “I recover quickly.”</p><p>“I was talking about your parents.”</p><p>His lip quirks up again. Not a smile exactly, but a twitch of relief. “Turns out it wasn’t just the headache in the car. After twenty-two years, I think I’m finally just… okay with not having a relationship with them.” His voice trails off and he nods to himself, adjusting to the thought. “Feels really good.”</p><p>She squeezes his hand. “I’m glad.”</p><p>“Did you like them?” he asks.</p><p>“Not at all.”</p><p>His chuckle rumbles through his body and passes into hers. “That’s my girl.” Then his face gets more serious and he nudges her side. “You still waiting for the other shoe to drop?”</p><p>Oh god. Of all the things for him to pluck from her brain. “You read my mind.”</p><p>“I wish…” He puffs up his mouth in a tense smile. “I wish <i>you</i>’d told me. Would’ve rather learned that from you than from telepathy.”</p><p>“It felt like a silly thing to worry about.”</p><p>“So in the future, <i>tell me</i>, so I can tell you it’s silly. Just like I coulda told you I never cared what they think of you.” He catches her gaze with a pointed eyebrow lift, and she groans, collapsing her face into his chest.</p><p>“Did you learn anything that <i>isn’t</i> embarrassing for me?”</p><p>His laugh has a mischievous edge to it, so she’s not holding out hope. “I didn’t realize you were genuinely that distracted by my demon-slayers. Just assumed the arm thing was a running joke.” Okay, she’s never lifting her head again. Never making eye contact with him. “Also slaying makes you really… hungry.” Yep, hiding here forever. But then he runs a gentle hand over her hair, and his voice goes soft. “You think of me as your family.”</p><p>She lifts her head, and his smile is so tender that her whole heart melts. “You didn’t know?” He shakes his head. “Well, you are.” He leans in to kiss her, slow and gentle, the kind of long, lazy kiss they get lost in. The kind of kiss she wants to memorize in case…</p><p>No, screw that. The kind of kiss she’s going to enjoy and allow herself to believe that she’s going to get to repeat. She’s not ruining more moments by worrying about the other shoe.</p><p>When they pull apart, she asks, “What would I hear if I could read your mind?”</p><p>“Julie, music, demonology. In that order.”</p><p>“What, just my name?” she teases.</p><p>A shy grin spreads across his face. “Also a lot of long, flowery monologues about your smile and your hair. Be glad you can’t hear them.”</p><p>The beam on her face feels like it’s gloating, and she’s cool with that. “Wow, sounds like you’re really in love with me. How embarrassing for you.”</p><p>Barking out a laugh, he kisses her quickly. “Yeah, I’m so embarrassed.” He rests his forehead on hers and presses their noses together, and for a moment they just lie there. Peaceful and happy.</p><p>Okay, fine. She’ll ask. “Did they like me?”</p><p>“They did during the meeting, but I overheard some of what you said before you went after the demon. I doubt they like you now.”</p><p>Unbidden, her lips curl into a smile. “You know what? I’m glad.” </p><p>“Me too.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>You can find me on tumblr as <a href="https://pearlcaddy.tumblr.com">pearlcaddy</a>, where I sometimes post exclusive snippets like <a href="https://pearlcaddy.tumblr.com/post/639945093183356928/directors-cut-was-there-any-buffy-lore-that-you">this</a>.</p><p>(Also, check out <a href="https://pearlcaddy.tumblr.com/post/640483971079208960/taylorjoy-anya-quote-from-the-other-shoe-by">this gorgeous gifset</a> that funny-face made of Luke's speech!)</p><p>As always, if there’s a missing scene/alternate POV you’re interested in reading from this verse, drop it in the comments or on tumblr! There will be some Vampire!Reggie, some Flynn, and some Jukebox fluff to come eventually.</p><p>Episodes of <i>Buffy</i> referenced:<br/>• “Earshot”<br/>• “Superstar”<br/>• “Faith, Hope, and Trick”<br/>• Definitely some “Family” vibes<br/>• As always, the Dark Horse comics technically exist but I do not care</p></blockquote></div></div>
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